Something to think and pray about this week

Few studies have been done on the relationship between sleep and spirituality. But if we agree that there is a spiritual element to everything, then sleep itself is a spiritual experience. If we deprive ourselves of sleep, we are in effect robbing our bodies and souls of the peaceful time that can become a time of communicating with God. As I looked back over the years I suffered from insomnia, I began to question whether or not the spiritual crises I experienced were perhaps just symptoms of sleep deprivation. It makes me consider whether St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Ãvila, both of whom wrote about dark nights of the soul and feelings of spiritual desolation, might have suffered from insomnia. This is not to discredit their mystical experiences as a by-product of bad sleep. God works through our biology to teach us and guide us. Nonetheless, the question merits consideration.